Our version of Choose & Cut is for you to do the choosing and we do the cutting. The choosing is the fun part of the process. We have over 35 acres of Christmas trees in various stages of production for you to walk through. We try to direct you where we think you will find what you want in a tree but you are free to go wherever you wish. You and family and friends get to go out as a group and practice family democracy in choosing one or more Christmas trees. It can include photos, singing and whatever family tradition(s) you enjoy as long as they don’t impinge on other families. You may have the family dog on a leash as long as he or she is under control. Once the family has made a final decision, our staff will cut it, mark your initials on the butt, place it on our truck or tractor drawn trailer, take it to our balers where the tree(s) is packaged. Note: if members of the family want to help cut or move the tree to the truck or trailer, just tell our staff member and he or she will make that happen safely. If you are traveling on the interstate or other high speed roads you should have us put your tree in a bag to avoid drying it out if it is out side of the vehicle.
Nearly every year there is the fear that there may not be enough Christmas trees this year because of some event or situation. In 2024 it was the floods in North Carolina that impacted large Christmas tree farms there. In previous years there have been other events that affected the quantity or quality of trees nationally. We have been fortunate to maintain our supply of trees here on the farm. We do not import trees from other growers locally, nationally or internationally.
As an additional service we offer some fresh precut trees from our farm on our racks near the Christmas Barn. See below for additional detail. Also near the Christmas Barn are our wreath racks where we display our decorated and undecorated wreaths. See below for more detail. Best of all after the trees are cut and loaded you will come into our Christmas Barn where on 9 out of our 12 open days, there are baked goods and hot food and drinks available. See our schedule below.
When you pay for your tree, wreath, maple products, etc., we accept cash, credit or debit cards and checks for your convenience.
CHOOSE & CUT HOURS:
We are open for the general public to come and pick out your tree and have us cut it each Friday, Saturday and Sunday between Thanksgiving and the Sunday before Christmas from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you would like to come a little early or might arrive near closing time, please contact us (802-276-3382). We will try to accommodate you. However, if coming near the closing hour of 4:00, be aware that it starts getting dark at that time and tromping around in the dark can be a safety issue for you and our staff. Also our staff members may be pretty tired by closing time and may need to return the next day for work or school. This year we only have four weekends for Christmas tree sales. Some years we have five. We are NOT open after December 21. On December 21 we will start closing early to mid afternoon, depending on the number of customers, to allow our staff to put things away for the season.
Also, check out our Customer Checklist so you'll be prepared to have the maximum family fun when you get here.
Please check Our Blog for late breaking news to make sure that we are open and that road conditions are favorable.
EVENTS AND BAKE SALES:
We will be open for twelve days in late November and most of December as shown in the schedule below. Sometimes we are able to accommodate a person or family to come because of unusual circumstances with notice on a day we are closed. However, as I get older, I am less able to provide all of the services required. I have many tasks each week to prepare for the next three day weekend. Call us and we may be able to make accommodation.
Each year we have local non-profit organizations such as churches, schools, fire departments, etc. to conduct bake sales at our Christmas Barn. It is a win-win-win situation. You get hot food and drinks and baked goods to enjoy before and after getting your tree. The organizations make money for their worthy cause to benefit the local community. We get to renew our friendships with the many wonderful volunteers who make these organizations work so well. We make no charge to the non-profit organization. They keep everything they make. Below is the planned Choose & Cut and Bake Sale Schedule for 2025. It shows the days we will be open and who will conduct a bake sale. Things could change. If so, we will make an announcement on Our Blog, include the change in the newsletter.
PRE-CUT CHRISTMAS TREES:
We will have an assortment of Pre-cut “ Trees" this year available for those who would rather not walk all over our farm. The pre-cut trees are priced at a substantial discount compared to our choose & cut prices. We try to cut the trees daily to keep a good selection of fresh cut trees. The total number of trees available in a season depends upon how many trees remain in the blocks that we are clearing. We clear some blocks of trees each year to make room for the baby trees. Some of the fresh pre-cut trees "Table Top" trees for folks who need or wish to take up less space for the tree or want to have a separate tree for their child or children.
DECORATED AND UNDECORATED WREATHS:
We typically sell over 150 wreaths each year. They come in four sizes: 18", 24", 30 “ and 36" measured approximately from edge to edge. Most are decorated but there are some for people who like to decorate their own. We harvest the greens used to make them from our farm and the wreath maker is local. Our wreaths typically sell out early in the season. They not only look great; they smell wonderful with a Balsam Fir aroma that makes your home smell like Christmas. You should plan to get one the first two weekends that we are open but you may want to call us to reserve one.
FREE RAFFLE AND NEWSLETTERS:
Each year we publish and send two free newsletters to customers for whom we have valid email addresses. We get those email addresses from conducting a free raffle each season. The winner of that raffle gets a free Christmas tree the following season that is less than nine feet tall. Look for the raffle slips and the raffle entry box in the Christmas barn. We send out the newsletters by email each October and November providing up to date information about the upcoming season. We revise the mailing list annually. Please open and read your newsletters each year so that we can keep your email address on the list.
MAPLE AND OTHER PRODUCTS WE SELL:
We sell a number of products either connected to Christmas trees such as tree stands, bags, preservative etc. or those that are purely Vermont products such as Vermont Maple syrup, The stands will hold up to at least a 10 foot tree. The tree disposal bags will protect your tree if it is being transported outside your vehicle very far or very fast. It will also help keeping needles to fall when you remove the tree from your house.
Maple candy, Maple butter and Maple cream. We stock products only from local Maple producers.
That brings us to the discussion about grades. Back in the bad old days everyone spoke of grades such as Fancy, Grade A, Grade B, etc. Prices were higher for Fancy than the lower grades. Any consumer was tempted to get a higher quality by getting a higher grade. It is just as much work to produce dark grades as the light grades. In any given Maple season you only make a certain amount of Fancy syrup. Local Vermonters who either made syrup or bought it from their neighbors found that they often liked the lower grades which they though had more flavor and were cheaper. A few years ago governments in syrup producing states and Canadian provinces got together and changed the grading system. All of the grades required the same standards of care to produce. The only difference was color and flavor. So now all grades are “Grade A” and they are distinguished by labels that describe the color and flavor. It is no longer about which is the “best” grade but which you like the taste of. It may depend upon whether you are putting the syrup on pancakes or using it in a cake frosting. There is no” bad” grade. It just depends upon what you are using it for and which flavors you like. We display these products in our Christmas Barn each Christmas season. Two Maple products that often cause questions are Maple cream and Maple butter. Maple cream has no additives and is the consistency of frosting. Maple Butter has enough butter added so that it spreads more easily. Click on our Maple Product Price List.